MDG has reissued this performance of Schubert’s Octet
recorded back in 1996. I was delighted to see that the world
famous German clarinetist the late Dieter Klöcker is featured.
It was Klöcker who founded the German chamber ensemble
Consortium Classicum back in the early 1960s.

A much loved score, this Octet, cast in six movements
is scored for clarinet, bassoon, horn, two violins, viola, cello
and double bass. It was written in 1824 as a commission from
the amateur clarinettist Count Ferdinand von Troyer who was
an official at the court of Archduke Rudolf, an heir to the
Austrian throne. Troyer stipulated that the score should be
modelled on Beethoven’s Septet, Op. 20 (1799) a
work that at the time was enjoying great popularity in Vienna.
At a fertile time for Schubert’s chamber music the Octet
was composed during the same period as his String QuartetsNo. 13 in A minor, D804 ‘Rosamunde’
and No. 14 in D minor, D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’.

What an engaging and zestful work this is with so much instrumental
detail brought out splendidly by the players of Consortium Classicum.
Fresh and spirited, the lengthy opening movement just bursts
with vitality evoking Spring-like scents and colours. Affectionate
and tender Adagio has some especially lovely writing
for the clarinet which is played beautifully here by Dieter
Klöcker. The best known and also the briefest movement
is the sparkling Scherzo notable for its driving rhythms.
Generously proportioned, the Andante has a memorable
and lyrical theme taken from Schubert’s Die Freunde
von Salamanka, D.326 with a fascinating set of seven variations.
The Menuetto exudes elegance and sees the players cleverly
unearth a restless undercurrent of disquiet. The shadowed tone
of the low instruments assets a dark mysterious atmosphere before
the music shifts gear at point 2:17 (track 6) to upbeat writing
with plenty of vigorous drive. This takes the work to what is
often described as a “brilliant conclusion”.
Well recorded in 1996 at Bad Arolsen, Consortium Classicum is
heard to best advantage. With playing out of the top drawer
this convincing account has an abundance of vitality.

Of the finest alternative recordings, the 1958 account by the
Wiener Octet can be safely called a ‘classic’. The
ensemble was led by Willi Boskovski, the renowned concertmaster
of the Wiener Philharmoniker and chief conductor of the Wiener
Johann Strauss Orchester. Recorded at the Vienna Sofiensaal
it has been digitally re-mastered as part of Decca’s Legendary
Performances series on 466 5800-2 (c/w the Spohr Octet).
Another recommendable account is from the Gaudier Ensemble.
This they recorded in 2001 at the Henry Wood Hall, London. It’s
certainly richly rewarding and beautifully recorded too on Hyperion
CDA67339.

This is splendidly performed by Consortium Classicum but if
asked to choose my preferred recording I would marginally plump
for the commanding Boskovski account. It has not diminished
with age and continues to give unfailing pleasure. A slight
over-brightness in the highest registers is the only drawback
but not one that should prove prohibitive.

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